Events

Charlie Blackmon A Completely Different Player With The Beard

DENVER (CBS4) – Last Wednesday Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon had the second-best batting average in baseball. He’s fallen off a bit since CBS4’s Vic Lombardi interviewed him then, but he’s batting .319 — and he still has a killer beard.

“I like the beard, man. He’s got a lot of damage in that beard,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.

Lombardi showed Blackmon a photo of him clean shaven and asked him if he even recognized himself.

Charlie Blackmon talks with CBS4’s Vic Lombardi (credit: CBS)

“I came across a picture the other day of me in the locker room last year and I had to do a double-take at it,” Blackmon said. “It’s a completely different guy.”

He said he’s supposed to keep up with grooming his beard every day.

“I have some beard wash … shampoo has the wrong pH, it’s not supposed to work,” Blackmon said. “And then I have some product I rub into there … it’s like a beard oil conditioner-type thing. And then I have this special guy. He’s the only guy who can really trim it for me.”

Blackmon was first a pitcher but made the move to the outfield.

“My arm started bothering me. You know how those pitchers are, they always have arm trouble … and I just couldn’t get it back. I felt like I was never the same when I came back from the arm injury,” he said. “I still wanted to play baseball. I said, ‘Maybe I’ll try this hitting thing.’ And it worked out.”

Lombardi asked him if he would be able to pitch in an emergency situation.

“I think I could. I’d be worried I’d blow out, but it’s something that I think about a lot and I still miss pitching.”

Blackmon said he likes to think he could hit 90 miles per hour if he were to pitch. He also said he tries not to think about where he’s ranked as a batter in the league.

“People tell me, I just brush it off. We’ve only played a quarter of the season, there’s a long way to go, a lot of games.”

Earlier this season Blackmon had six-hit game that included three doubles.

“Six hits, it’s pretty hard to get. Believe it or not, I’m trying to do it every night,” Blackmon joked. “It’s just that I can’t do it.”

The Rockies travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies for a three-game series followed by three more in Cleveland against the Indians.